One aircraft expert said: “The thought of the plane landing somewhere is not impossible because we have not found a single bit of debris in the ocean.”

The theory fits with a number of alleged sightings of the Malaysian Airlines plane at the time it vanished from the sky.

Fishermen and villagers living in north-east Malaysia filed official statements telling how they saw or heard a low-flying jet about the same time MH370 lost contact with ground control.

They described a “very loud engine” and headlights beaming like an aircraft about to land.

Until now, investigations have been centred on the plane’s communications satellite equipment, which suggested it probably crashed in the Indian Ocean.

But the technology does not provide definite details of the aircraft’s destination, altitude or speed.

One source told a local newspaper: “A communications satellite is meant for communication... the name is self explanatory. There was no global positioning system following the aircraft as the transponder went off 45 minutes into the flight.”